Six meanings associated with the terms "Seal of the Prophets"
& "Seal of the Messengers"

"Muhammad is... the Messenger of Allah,
and
the Seal of the Prophets..."-Qur'an 33:40

"Universally, the Prophets are of two kinds.
One are the independent Prophets Who are followed; the other kind
are not independent and are themselves followers.

The independent Prophets are the lawgivers and the founders of
a new cycle. Through Their appearance the world puts on a new
garment, the foundations of religion are established, and a new
book is revealed. Without an intermediary They receive bounty
from the Reality of the Divinity, and Their illumination is an
essential illumination. They are like the sun which is luminous
in itself: the light is its essential necessity; it does not receive
light from any other star. These Dawning-places of the morn of
Unity are the sources of bounty and the mirrors of the Essence
of Reality.

The other Prophets are followers and promoters, for they are branches
and not independent; they receive the bounty of the independent
Prophets, and they profit by the light of the Guidance of the
universal Prophets. They are like the moon, which is not luminous
and radiant in itself, but receives its light from the sun.

The Manifestations of universal Prophethood Who appeared independently
are, for example, Abraham, Moses, Christ, Muhammad, the Bab and
Baha'u'llah. But the others who are followers and promoters are
like Solomon, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. For the independent
Prophets are founders; They establish a new religion and make
new creatures of men; They change the general morals, promote
new customs and rules, renew the cycle and the Law. Their appearance
is like the season of spring, which arrays all earthly beings
in a new garment, and gives them a new life.

With regard to the second sort of Prophets who are followers,
these also promote the Law of God, make known the Religion of
God, and proclaim His word. Of themselves they have no power and
might, except what they receive from the independent Prophets."-from: "Some Answered Questions" by Abdu'l-Baha, pages
164-165

The term "Nabi" or "Prophet" has been used
in the past Scriptures including the Qur'an in two ways. The understanding
of this term is crucial in discussing this topic. Likewise the
term "Rasool" or "Messenger" also has two
meanings:

1- The independent or law-giving Messengers like Moses,
Jesus, Abraham, Muhammad and

2- dependent, or promulgator Messengers
like the twelve Apostles of Christ, or Apostle Peter and Apostle
Paul. Once again, the understanding of this issue is crucial in
recognizing the meaning of "Seal of the Prophets" and
Seal of the Apostles.

In light of what has been discussed above, there are several implications
associated with the terms Khatam'un Nabi-een, and Khatam'ur Rosol-een
which I will summarize:

1- The question of "seal of prophethood" deals with
the IMMEDIATE successorship of Prophet Muhammad. That is to say,
the Messengers inspired by God, according to the Semitic tradition,
from Adam to Jesus, were followed by prophets who promulgated
and reinforced the message of the religion within which they had
appeared. A close examination of the purpose behind the mission
of the prophets of Israel (i.e. Daniel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, etc....)
who appeared after Moses, suggests that the function of these
highly esteemed individuals was to strengthen the faith of the
children of Israel in the Mosaic Covenant. None of them claimed
to a new, or unique revelations from God. They did not change
or abrogate, even to the smallest extent, any of the laws established
by Moses. They just, promulgated the teachings of Moses, and further
elaborated on the application of those laws in the life of the
Jews.

This continued until the robe of Revelation was granted to Jesus,
during Whose period (until the revelation of Muhammad) many individuals
also became the exponents of His law and Revelation.

Through Muhammad's revelation the office of prophethood was ended.
That is to say, no other prophet such as that of Jewish or Christian
prophets were to appear. Instead Khalifs (according to Sunni terminology),
and Imams (according to Shi'ah usage) appeared. The following
Sahih Hadith hints at this issue:

Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "The Israelis used
to be ruled and guided by prophets: Whenever a prophet died, another
would take over his place. There will be no prophet after me,
but there will be Caliphs who will increase in number."

The people asked, "O Allah's Apostle! What do you order us
(to do)?" He said, "Obey the one who will be given the
pledge of allegiance first. Fulfill their (i.e. the Caliphs) rights,
for Allah will ask them about (any shortcoming) in ruling those
Allah has put under their guardianship."- Sahih Bukhari 4:661

2- The same argument which was applied to "seal of the prophets"
applies to the concept of "seal of the apostles". That
is to say, no apostles (of the promulgator kind) were to appear
after Prophet Muhammad. Such a commandment was revealed by Muhammad,
in my opinion to place a control over this offices of prophethoodship
or that of apostleship which thrived rather wildly during Christian
dispensation. A study of the Christian Scriptures and the examination
of arguments offered by Christian scholars might clarify the reason
behind behind sealing of these two offices.

In I Corinthians 12:28 Paul says: "And God hath set some
in the church [i.e. the church of Christ or the religion of Christ],
first APOSTLES, secondly PROPHETS, thirdly teachers, after that
miracles, then gifts of headings, helps, governments, diversities
of tongues."

He elaborates further on this subject in Ephesians 4:7-12; 4:7:
"But unto every one of us is given grace according to the
measure of the gift of Christ." And later on in verse 4:11-12,
he says: "And He gave some, APOSTLES; and some, PROPHETS;
and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers. For the
perfecting of the saints, FOR THE WORK OF THE MINISTRY, for the
edifying of the body of Christ. TILL WE ALL COME IN THE UNITY
OF THE FAITH, and of the knowledge of the Son of God..."

Here Paul is referring to various responsibilities and functions
within the Christian community, which is given to each and every
individual according, "to the measure of the gift of Christ",
received by that person. In essence He established the foundation
of the future Christian administrative order, by identifying various
categories of responsibility and organizing the foundation of
the early Church.

In I Corinthians 14:26 He says: "How is it then brethren?
when ye come together, every one of you hath a Psalm, hath a doctrine,
hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let
all things be done unto edifying. If any man speak in an unknown
tongue, let it be by two, or at most by three, and that by course;
and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him
keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself and to
God. Let the PROPHETS speak two or three, and let the other judge.
If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first
hold his peace. For YE MAY ALL PROPHESY [i.e. to reveal by inspiration
like a prophet] one by one, that all may learn, and all may be
comforted. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the
prophets...."

Later on in verse 37 He says: "IF ANY MAN THINK HIMSELF TO
BE A PROPHET, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things
that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord."

Interestingly enough Miller in his book "The History of the
Church of Rome and Persia" (Persian translation page 105)
refers to the same concept, which I will translate myself (since
I do not have an English translation of this book handy). He describes
the meaning of apostleship and prophethood according to the early
church terminology as follows:

"The term apostle has been used in two ways throughout the
New Testament; In the majority of cases it has been used to identify
the twelve pupils of Jesus Christ; as in Matthew 10:2, Acts 1:26
and Revelation 21:14. This term has also been used to identify
the early teachers who were directly commissioned by the church
to go and spread the glad tidings of the appearance of Jesus throughout
various countries; as is suggested by Acts 14:14, Colossians 1:1
and 1:19. An example of this latter category are Paul and Barnabas.

"The term prophet was on the other hand used to indicate
a form of responsibility within the church hierarchy. The function
of the prophets was very similar to that of the apostles, but
the main difference was that while the function of the apostles
was to teach the newly born faith to the non-believers, the purpose
of the prophets was to deepen the believers in the teachings of
Christ."

Miller later on in his book mentions that, and I am paraphrasing
here, never had God raised SO MANY PROPHETS in the world as He
did during the first century of Christ's dispensation. He furthermore,
suggests that, as the prophets of Israel caused the establishment
of Jews in their faith and theology, by the same token, these
Christian prophets deepened the early believers and established
them in their faith towards Jesus and the theology promulgated
by the Apostles.

In page 189 of Miller's history, the false prophets referred to
in the Gospels are identified with these early Christian prophets
discussed above. He suggests that among these early Christian
prophets, there were many false prophets or false teachers, some
of whom not only taught incorrect doctrines, [not in tune with
the teachings of Christ and the apostles] to the masses of the
early believers, but also promoted and encouraged the people to
commit seditious acts and unworthy behavior.

In light of the problems which resulted from this specific usage
of the term "prophet" and "apostle" during
Christian dispensation, Prophet Muhammad, in His role as a Messenger
of God and the Promised One of Christianity and a Warner of the
people of the Book offered an inspired correction to this theological
problem by SEALING once and for all these two offices of PROPHETHOOD
and APOSTLEHOOD through His own revelation. Thus, the sayings
of and "Khatam'un Nabieen" and "Khatam'ur Rosoleen"
(Seal of the Prophets and Seal of the Apostles)

3- As a direct result of the points raised in 1 and 2 the Revelators
of God's Grace appearing after Prophet Muhammad will not be identified
as "rasool" (Messenger or Apostle), or "nabi"
(prophets).

Another term, other than "nabi" and "rasool",
will be used to identify these Revelators. This term, according
to the designation made by The Bab'is: "Manifestation of
the Cause of God" or in short "Manifestation of God".

Of course to you and I a Revelator is always a Representative
or Messenger of God and as a result in our discussions we refer
to them as such. In fact the only way I can convey my views to...
a Muslim is to present my understanding in the context of Muslim
beliefs and definitions.

It is the directive of the Qur'an that the Day of the appearance
of the future Revelator of God's Commandments is the "Day
of God". It is the Day when God will appear among His servants:
"What can such expect but that God should come down to them
overshadowed with clouds."-Qur'an 2:210

It is the Day when God appears in His Glory. According to Sahih
Ahadith it is the Day when the Revelator of God's Grace would
CLAIM: "ana rabbokom".

The days when These Revelators (i.e. Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, etc...)
said: "ana nabiakom" and "ana rasoolokom"
are ended and sealed with the Advent of Muhammad Who was the Seal
of the Prophets and the Seal of the Apostles. The reason why previous
Revelators were identified as Messengers was to bring the Message
about this particular Day when "God should come down to them".
How absurd it would be that such a Revelator Who is to appear
in that Day to identify Himself as a Messenger. This is one of
the reasons why the usage of the two terms "nabi" and
"rasool" are discontinued and sealed by Prophet Muhammad.
He was the last Messenger until the Day of God. I hope
you get the gist of this issue which is at the heart of the claims
of the Bab as Mahdi and Baha'u'llah as Return of Isaa bin Maryam.

4- As a direct result of the point raised in 1 and 2 will there
appear after these FUTURE Manifestations of God NO minor prophets
such as the Jewish Prophets, or Christian prophets/apostles (These
minor Prophets such as Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc... did not
abrogate nor did they established any new laws. They simply promulgated
the same laws and elaborated on their range of applications. Such
task/office was ended with the Advent of Prophet Muhammad).

If you pay attention to what happened after the passing of Prophet
Muhammad you will see that those claiming successorship were known
as Khalifs (per Sunni terminology) or Imams -Who were Khalifat'u'llah-
(per Shi'ah belief). These successors were not called "prophets".
Additionally, the Revelators Who are to appear after Muhammad
per directive of the verse of the Qur'an: "O children of
Adam [i.e. Muslims. KH], verily apostles from among you shall
come unto you, who shall expound my signs unto you: whosoever
therefore shall fear God and amend, there shall come no fear on
them, neither shall they be grieved." [Qur'an 7:35] must
not be designated or identified as "nabi" or "Prophet".
As a result, those Who succeeded Baha'u'llah are not called Prophets.
'Abdu'l- Baha is known as the Center of Baha'u'llah's Covenant
and His grandson was designated as the Guardian of the Baha'i
Faith.

5- Prophet Muhammad was the last Messenger/prophet in the Adamic
cycle. That is to say He ended the prophethood for the cycle of
6000 years (i.e. 6 days) of creation/revelation which was INAUGURATED
by Prophet Adam and SEALED by Prophet Muhammad.

Please consider the following Hadith Narrated by Abu Huraira:
Allah's Apostle said, "My similitude in comparison with the
other prophets before me, is that of a man who has built a house
nicely and beautifully, except for a place of one brick in a corner.
The people go about it and wonder at its beauty, but say: 'Would
that this brick be put in its place!' So I am that brick, and
I am the last of the Apostles.-Sahih Bukhari 4:735

Allah the Creator and the Builder has indeed built the house,
and Prophet Muhammad was indeed the last brick of that house or
the last of the Apostles. However, the IMPLICATION that this house
constitutes the END of God's Creativity and Buildership is a theological
absurdity which is against the teachings of the Holy Qur'an about
Godhood.

The most profound meaning of this Hadith is the one which does
not limit God's Creativity and Buildership. That is to say: God,
the Builder, built a HOUSE through His Messengers and Prophets
(i.e. 124,000 of Them from the time of Prophet Adam to the time
of the Seal of the Prophets according to a Hadith from Imam Ali.)
and Prophet Muhammad was the last brick in this HOUSE, or the
last Apostle in the Adamic cycle of God's Creativity. However,
upon the completion of this HOUSE, God's creativity DOES NOT STOP,
it rather continues towards building a CITY in a new cycle of
creation whose plans are ushered by Imam Mahdi (i.e. The Bab)
and whose foundation is laid by Issa bin Maryam (i.e. Baha'u'llah)
as a token of God's grace in a NEVER-ENDING process of God's Creativity.
Such an approach in understanding the finality of Prophet Muhammad
keeps the Creatorship of God intact and bestows meaning to the
Mission of Mahdi and the Return of Christ.

Baha'u'llah, similar to Adam is viewed as the INAUGURATOR of a
new cycle (In this cycle the intent is not to build a house, per
above mentioned Hadith's terminology, but to build a city.) which
is to last 500,000 years (compared to 6000 years of Adamic cycle.),
within which God will inspire His Manifestations to appear approximately
every 1000 years.

6- "...the term Nabi (i.e. prophet) was given to the ones
who prophesied based on visions, or dreams. This usage was solidified
during the Jewish and Christians dispensations. However, after
the appearance of Prophet Muhammad (Khatam'ul-Anbia), the ender
of the prophetic cycle, the era of revelation from God "through
the medium of dreams and visions" was ended and a new era
of "revelation through direct inspiration" was started."-Fara'id,
A. Golpayegani

Shi'ah scholar's views on Seal of the ProphetsLet us now examine the opinions of various Muslim theologians,
from both Shi'ah and Sunni backgrounds, on the meaning of the
term Khatam'u-Nabieen. I will first focus on this, from a Shi'ah
perspective... then I will discuss the Sunni view as well as some
other views:

Mulla Fatth-i-Kashani, who is one of the highly respected Shi'ah
scholars, in his commentary on Manhaj-ul-Sadegheen, addresses
the concept of Khatam'u-Nabieen as follows: "Muhammad's fear
became a reality, after He married Zei'nab. After marriage, the
idolaters, and His enemies started criticizing Him, and accusing
Him of hypocrisy. They'd say, Muhammad teaches His followers that
it is unlawful for a father to marry his son's divorced wife,
while He has married Zayd's wife. [Zayd was purchased by Muhammad
and freed to live as a free man, and Muhammad had adopted him
as His son. Arabs of the time of Jahliah, considered one's adopted
son as the real son. This is why they started to accuse Muhammad
of hypocrisy.]

As a result of this criticism, God revealed to Muhammad, Peace
be upon Him!, as reflected in the Su'rih of the Confederates,
that, Muhammad is not the father of any man (i.e. any male
offsprings) among you (since, no surviving male offsprings
remained after He passed away). As a result, the law of not marrying
the divorced wife of a son would not apply to Muhammad. Furthermore,
God calls Muhammad an Apostle of God, in that same verse, (suggesting
that He was the spiritual father of all Arabs, and Zayd was simply
an Arab with no blood relationship to Him).

Moreover, the verse identifies Muhammad as the seal of the prophets,
that is to say, since He did not have any surviving male offsprings
to inherit prophethood from Him, thus, prophethood was sealed
with Him. That is to say, no prophets shall appear after Him...
All of Muhammad's male offsprings died in early childhood, prior
to Muhammad's own passing, thus, this verse of the Qur'an came
into fulfillment."

In the same book [i.e. his commentary on Manhaj-ul-Sadegheen],
Mulla Fatth-i- Kashani, offers a tradition attributed to Muhammad,
where He says: "I am Muhammad, and I am Ahmad and I am that
gatherer, through Whom God shall gather His people. And I am the
last, after Me there shall be no other prophet."

Also, he offers another tradition, in the same book, where, Muhammad
the Messenger of God tells Ali, Peace be upon Him!: "If it
was allowed that after me there be another prophet, that would
have been you, and no one but you."

Allamih Jallal-u-Din Suyutti in Jami-ul-Saghir quotes Ayeshih
(one of the wives of Prophet Muhammad), who had quoted Muhammad
saying: "No prophet shall appear after Me, but Omar-ibn-Khattab."
[For the information of the non-Muslim readers, Omar was one of
Muhammad's son-in-laws, who agreed to become the 2nd Khalif after
Abu-Bakr].

Clearly, the concept of no Nabi, or prophet, appearing after Muhammad
must have been associated with His immediate successorship, and
had nothing to do with coming of future Messengers from God. Otherwise,
why would Muhammad want to discuss Omar's -the second Khalif's-
name in this tradition.

Many of the Shi'ah commentators believe in a literal meaning of
the term Khatam-u- Nabieen (Seal of the Prophets, after Whom no
other Messengers of God shall come), however, there are other
commentators who believe differently: Ibn-i Babuyih known as Sheikh
Sadoogh, another highly respected Shi'ah scholar/theologian argues
in his book, Ekmaal-ud-Din, vol I: "All the Messengers of
God who appeared prior to Muhammad, were succeeded by a Nabi (i.e.
a prophet). Adam was a Rasool (Messenger of God), and His successor
was Shais the Nabi (Seth the prophet). Noah was a Messenger of
God and His successor was Saam the Nabi (Shem the prophet). Abraham,
Moses, Jesus and David (peace be upon Them!), were also God's
Messengers, Whose successors were Isaac, Joshua, Simon (St. Peter)
and Solomon Who were all prophets.

However, the successors of Muhammad, Rasool-Allah (the Messenger
of God), were not called Nabis (prophets). They were referred
to as Imams. Therefore, Ali was not a Nabi, Hasan was not a Nabi,
Hossein was not a Nabi, etc...., since, with the Manifestation
of Muhammad, the usage of the term Nabi was abandoned (i.e. He
was Khatam-u-Nabieen), and ended. As Muhammad was greater than
the previous Messengers, so were His appointed successors (i.e.
Imams) were greater than Nabis (prophets)."

This commentary of Sheikh Sadoogh appears to clearly reason out
the inner significance of traditions such as: "Seal of the
prophets", "There will be no prophets after me....".

Among other Shi'ah sources there is a Hadith (tradition) recorded
by Ibn-i-Shahr Ashoob in his book, "Managhib". The very
same Hadith can also be found in vol IX of Bihar'ul- Anvar of
Allamih Majlesi. This Hadith is from Imam Ali, (Peace be upon
Him!), where He discusses the meaning of the term Khatam-u-Nabieen.
After describing the ascendancy of His own station, Ali says:
"...Anyone who disagrees with me, has disagreed with God,
and in arrogance has surpassed all others. No prophet has achieved
the station of prophethood except through the Khatam of Nabovvat
(i.e. literally meaning prophethood) he received from Muhammad.
And Khatam is a ring. Only after receiving the Khatam (ring) of
Nabovvat, one can be called a prophet. This is why Muhammad has
been called Khatam'u- Nabieen in the Qur'an....." Then He
says: "Muhammad is the Seyyed (master) of the Nabieen (prophets),
and I am the Seyyed and master of the Vaseein (guardians and successors)."

Clearly Ali's explanation of "Khatam'u-Nabeein" is drastically
different than the meaning the literalist Muslims have given to
it. There does not appear to be any implications whatsoever about
cessation of revelation after Prophet Muhammad.

Allamih Majlesi in Bihar'ul-Anvar Vol 13, p.323 mentions one of
the discourses of Imam Ali. In that discourse Ali says: "I
am the Commander of the faithful. I am the King among the pious.....
I am the Khatam'u-Vasieen [which can be either taken as "The
Seal of the guardians and successors", or, as "The Ornament
of the Guardians and successors".] and the heir of the prophets
and the representative of the God of the worlds."

This Hadith is referred to as the Hadith Nuraniah as is reported
by several people such as Ibn Babyih (Sheikh Sadooq) in "Uyoon'ul-Akhbar
Ar-Rida".

This tradition of Imam Ali is a very interesting. One must be
fair in one's judgment. If we are to take, in this tradition,
the term "Khatam" as "the Seal", "the
ender", "one who completes", then one is obliged
to accept that Ali was "the seal of the guardians, and successors",
after Muhammad, Who is the Seal of the prophets. Yet, Shi'ahs
believe that after Muhammad there was supposed to be twelve Imams,
only the first of Whom was Ali. So, assuming that the term Khatam
in Khatam'u-Vasieen must have a similar meaning to the term Khatam
in Khatam'u- Nabieen, then one is to question why were there more
Imams after Ali. How are we to reconcile the existence of the
other Imams, Who came after Ali, based on this interpretation?
Let this be food for thought for the possessors of pure heart
and open mind.

Sunni scholar's views on Seal of the Prophets
Let us now examine the meaning of the term Khatam'u-Nabieen
from the perspective of Sunni scholars and theologians, so that
the seekers of truth obtain a wider spectrum of views for their
judgment:

In the commentary of Fat'hol-Ghadeer by Hafiz Mohhades-i-Shokani
we find: "All the Ghoraba use KhatEm, while Athim use KhatAm.
KhatEm in Khatem'un-Nabeein means the Ender of Prophets, or the
Seal of Prophets, while, KhatAm in Khatam'un-Nabeein means ring
and ornament. In essence Muhammad, the Messenger of God, was the
Ring or Ornament of (i.e. among) the Prophets, due to His exalted
station compared to other Prophets."

The same book quotes from Dorr'ul-Mansoor of Allamih Jallal'u-Din
Suyutti, who quotes Ayeshih, the wife of Muhammad, who said: "Say
KhatAm-un-Nabeein (i.e. The Ring or Ornament of the Prophets),
and never say no prophets shall come after Him (i.e. Muhammad)".

One can find the same references in the commentary of Kashaaf,
by Zamakhshari, who says: "Muhammad, the Messenger of God,
was called Khatam'u-Nabieen, since, He did not have any male offsprings
to inherit prophethood from Him." He goes on and presents
a Hadith from Prophet Muhammad who says about His deceased son
Abraham (from Marieh, the Egyptian wife of Muhammad): "If
my son Abraham was alive, he would have been a Nabi (i.e. He would
have become a Nabi after Me.)". However, all of Muhammad's
male offsprings die in early childhood, thus, the verse of the
Qur'an: "Muhammad is not the father of any man among you...."
comes into fulfillment, and Muhammad become Khatam'u-Nabieen,
according to the same verse."

Abo'l-Bagha, another trusted Sunni source discusses this issue
in his book, "Mofeed", from the same angle, which I
will not quote here in order to prevent excessive repetition of
the same idea.

It is apparent from what has been mentioned at length, that both
Shi'ah and Sunni sources agree that:

1- There is a more profound meaning associated with the title
Khatam'u-Nabieen:

2- Finality of Muhammad's revelation is not implied by this term,
mentioned in the Qur'an, the Confederates: 39.

Let me close this note with the view of Abol-Fadail-i Golpayegani,
a prominent Baha'i scholar, from a Muslim background, who, in
his book Fara'id addresses the question of Khatam'u-Nabieen as
follows: "No wonder if the learned of Islam too, argue against
the renewal of revelation from God [like their predecessors, Jews
and Christians, who are firmly convinced that their respective
religions are the final revelation from God], based on such references
as: Khatam'u-Nabeein, or such traditions as: "There shall
be no prophet after me....", and by doing so become subjected
to a test of faith; and join their predecessors [Jews and Christians].
Not realizing that the purpose of Muhammad in using the term Khatam'u-Nabeein
was to suggest the progress of the Islamic nation, and unveil
the ascendancy of the station of the Imams in comparison to the
prophets of Israel. It is clear to those who are familiar with
the Scriptures of the past, who are aware of the events which
are associated with the histories of the nations of antiquity
that the prophets of Israel, such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel,
Ezekiel, Zechariah, etc... one and all prophesied about the future
events according to dreams and visions. And they interpreted their
vision or dream as a revelation from God. As a result, the book
of these prophets became known as the vision of Isaiah, vision
of Daniel, vision of Jeremiah, and vision of Ezekiel. By the same
token, if we are to examine this issue from a Christian perspective,
the Revelation of St. John is in essence the Dream of John. As
a result the term Nabi (Prophet) was given to the ones who prophesied
based on visions, or dreams. This usage was solidified during
the Jewish and Christians dispensations. However, after the appearance
of Prophet Muhammad (Khatam'ul-Anbia), the ender of the prophetic
cycle, the era of revelation from God "through the medium
of dreams and visions" was ended and a new era of "revelation
through direct inspiration" had begun. Viewed from this perspective, we can see that the tradition; "There will be no prophets after me..." was a true statement.-Fara'id, p. 311-this article written by Kamran Hakim

Kamran Hakim is a member of the Baha'i Faith. The opinions expressed in this article constitute his own personal
understanding and do not necessarily represent the official position
of the Baha'i Faith or it's teachings.